Writing

I've toyed with the idea of creating a writing page for quite some time. While I firmly believe writing is an integral part of spelling, English and grammar I can't deny that writing is a subject entirely on it's own.

It's also the subject I hear many homeschool moms (especially those with boys) admit that they have a hard time getting their kids to do.

I don't know what it is about writing but I really have to pull teeth in order to get my kids to write anything. They hate it so much that I often don't even make them write anything at all unless it's our weekly writing assignment. Some weeks we might squeeze in some extra writing here and there but I try to make it a once a week thing. For us, writing is explored in a large variety of ways.

One thing that has worked really well this year is telling each boy that they only have to write one sentence for each grade that they are in so my fifth grader writes five sentences while my first grader only has to write one. Having a set length seems to help them see that the writing will have an ending and doesn't have to last all day.

Some days my boys prefer copywork. Charlotte Mason developed a style of learning that encouraged copywork (here is a link to some free copywork pages at Simply Charlotte Mason). Kids copy good, real literature and learn spelling, punctuation and capitalization by copying.

On days when my kids are unsure what to write they like copywork. Some day they'll copy a short stanza or poem. Other days they might find a page in an illustrated children's book. Most days they prefer to use our Draw Write Now books. They get to draw a picture and copy the four sentences written in their book about the picture they chose. It's art and writing in one!

Here's a Draw Write Now page Alec did on raccoons

Some days my boys prefer creative open ended projects and thank goodness for Pinterest! Here is a list of some of our favorite writing assignments and activities:

Writing up their own recipes. They have written up their own breakfast recipe and we actually made them following their recipes a few days later.

The boys all loved writing up their own potion to go along with our Harry Potter unit. Alec enjoyed it so much he wrote a few different ones!

2 comments
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You have a lot of great creative ideas to get them writing! A lot of kids are reluctant writers and it takes some motivating to get them started. I'm teaching a high school writing class at our co-op and every one of the moms has expressed concern that their student doesn't like to write and hasn't had much writing experience. BUT! they all are capable of writing some really great stuff when given ideas, a framework, and a deadline. (I think the deadline may be the most important!! haha) I do occasionally have them "free write" during class - for 14 minutes they must write about one of three prompts I give them. They do not ever have to show anyone what they've written, but they must write. It's working out pretty well!